


alloys

by heartsfilthylesson



Category: The X-Files
Genre: F/M, txf revival
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 12:55:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 267
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3610818
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heartsfilthylesson/pseuds/heartsfilthylesson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Thirteen years is a long time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	alloys

There's a lingering bitterness in her mouth, a heaviness on her tongue. It reminds Scully of a rusty penny, a backyard dare among siblings. She swallows her pride, feels it like a coin falling down her throat, and speaks into the phone. “Mulder, it’s me.”

There’s no choking, no screaming, no running to get mother: the words leave her lips with ease. Rote, she thinks, and waits for an answer.

“Scully.” She hears him shift in the old sofa, hears a sports commentator in the background. “Hey.”

The TV sounds farther and farther away until the noise disappears. She can almost see him, threadbare tshirt and old jeans, padding barefoot across the cold floorboards. Mulder asks how she’s doing and it sounds almost casual. She stares at her laptop and tries not to sigh.

“Fine,” she tells him and it’s not a lie but it’s not the truth. “And you?”

It’s a moment too long before he answers and she tries to remember the last time she saw him. Early October, perhaps, a few days before his birthday. “I’m good.”

She wants to ask about their house, about the creaky deck and the water stains on their bedroom ceiling and the downstairs bath faucet that refuses to be fixed. She doesn’t because it’s not their house anymore, not since she left.

“Skinner called you.” She nods though he cannot see her because he will know, Mulder always knows. “They’re reopening the X-Files, Scully.”

“Yes.” Thirteen years is a long time and they’re not Mulder and Scully anymore. She wonders if they can do this again. “They are.”


End file.
